5 Helpful Tips On Stretching
- DO breathe as normally as you can and DO NOT hold your breath. Breathing evenly helps to relax your body. Holding your breath will tense up your muscles.
- DO set a routine. Set aside as little as fifteen or twenty minutes a day to stretch. It’s said that it takes twenty-one days to form a habit, so stretch every day, at the same time if that’s helpful, to create that habit.
- DO NOT give up because it is hard. Stretching is hard for all of us…no one is born being able to do the splits! If you commit to your practice, you will absolutely see improvement. Do not be too hard on yourself and certainly do not give up.
- DO NOT push yourself too far. On the same note, don’t push yourself further than you can handle. You should always be pushing yourself further and harder, but never more than you can handle. Trying to drop into a splits when you’ve never hit one before is a sure way to injure yourself. Push yourself in manageable increments. It is easy to be intimidated by other dancer’s progress, but remember that they got there in little bits too–not all at once!
- Do stretch with friends. Stretching with friends is a great way to add stretching into your daily routine. Maybe you and your friend always carpool to and from ballet together. Use that time to hang with each other and get your bodies ready for class. You can help encourage one another to stick to your stretching routine.
Start stretching today for a more flexible YOU!
